Chapter Text
Bokuto was practically dragging me around town, he had unconsciously grabbed my arm before. I could’ve complained but he was glowing, he smiled while he explained the different places around town.
“Here’s the market!” He pointed at a long street that looked like a hallway. “ I personally prefer this place over the supermarket, sellers here grow their own crops and fish their own fish! Isn’t that awesome!?” Before I could reply he dragged me into the market, we walked for a bit until he stopped in front of a fruit stand. “ Ms Yosano, it’s me, Bokuto! “ He yelled, no one seemed to attend the stand, but suddenly, a middle aged woman with a gentle expression appeared from the small cabinet behind the stand.
“ Good morning Kotaro!” She greeted him with a smile, then she noticed me. “Oh my, are you already showing tourists around? “ She giggled, Bokuto shook his head. “This is (y/n)! She’s actually been here before, she’s (s/n)'s granddaughter!” Ms Yosano’s eyes seemed to widen in surprise. “My my… I didn’t know (s/n)s had a granddaughter, not one this gorgeous!” ‘Stop lying’ I thought to myself. After the brief introduction, Bokuto asked Yosano for some fruits to buy. So he had actually dragged me here to buy his groceries huh?
After going around the market searching for Bokuto’s groceries we went to what seemed to be his house. “Don’t worry my sisters aren’t home so you can come in!” I blinked, confused. “I didn’t know you had sisters?” Bokuto turned and smacked his head against his palm. “Ugh! Sorry, I forgot to tell you! I actually have two older sisters and we live with my grandpa.” I was tempted to ask him about his parents but it was actually none of my business and I didn’t want to intrude. “Where are they?” It was the first thing that came to my mind in order to continue the conversation.
He stepped away so I could come inside his place. “My oldest sister, Hori, is on vacation in Tokyo. Can you believe it? Her boyfriend got her train tickets to go!” I wasn’t sure about entering his house but I knew I had to go along with this so I slowly took off my shoes and entered his house. “And my other older sister is probably helping gramps with fishing duties since it’s her turn today.” He started walking towards a room and so I followed him. We got into the kitchen, it was actually very different from my grandparent’s kitchen, this one had sliding doors that led to the back of the garden.
I didn’t notice Bokuto calling for my name after he set the groceries bags down. “ We’re ready to continue with our tour!” I shook my head and followed him out of his house, shortly, he started talking again. “ Okay, you have to get ready for what’s coming next! I’m gonna show you one of the coolest things around town!” I nodded and kept walking right by his side, he glanced at me. “ Has anyone ever told you that you’re too quiet?” He asked with a smile. ‘Yeah, tons of people have’ “No, they haven’t ” I replied, still looking ahead. “Well you are quiet!” “I just need some time to open up” That was certainly true, whenever I got close with someone, my weird side showed up. That side of mine makes other people laugh, it makes other people look at me as if I was like them, a normal human being, it makes me feel comforted yet despicable at the same time.
“Well we’re gonna be spending so much time together now that you’re staying here for the whole summer!” He grinned. Bokuto’s smiles were something else, I could see how his eyes squinted every time he grinned and how it made him look so careless and free. He wasn’t like me at all, is not that I thought that he could ever share similarities with me, is just that he’s so different, as if he was from another planet.
The rest of the walk he talked about people around town and their personalities, he could never be quiet. We stopped when we reached the town’s harbor. Was this one of the coolest things around town? I didn’t want to imagine the most boring one around here. “We’re almost there!” I looked at boats that rested here, most of them were big fishing boats, some of them even had people working inside, maybe sorting out fish or planning trips. And then we stopped in front of a small old sailboat, Bokuto walked towards it and rested his hand on the mast of the boat. “This,” he patted the boat’s mast, “is Benji.” I nodded and did a small thumbs up. I already knew that people who owned boats or planes gave them weird names.
“My family and I use this boat to fish and maintain the fishing business. Thanks to Benji we’re actually able to eat.” Even though the sailboat was old, it was pretty, a sprayed drawing of a badly drawn volleyball on the mainsail stood out. Bokuto noticed that I was looking at it. “Oh, I gramps let me paint that when I was a kid! I was a true artist!” He chuckled to himself and I just nodded. “The whole boat is very pretty.” “Right!?” He nodded several times. I love to feel the sea’s breeze against my skin when I sail…” He sighed and raised his head to look at me again.
“That’s why we’re going to sail right now!” Wait,nobody signed me up for this!? I got pretty nervous because I had a huge motion sickness. “I uh… I don’t want to seem rude but I actually have motion sickness…” He waved a hand and scoffed. “ Oh, worry not! I used to have motion sickness when I was a kid and look at me now!” He pointed to himself with his thumb. “You just have to get used to it, and it all starts with this small trip”
I swallowed, it wasn’t that I didn’t like the sea, I just didn’t want to throw up in front of a person that I had met yesterday. Despite that, I had no other choice but to agree. “Alright… but just a small trip…” I wanted to go home and rot in my bed until I fell asleep reading corny fanfiction on wattpad.
His eyes lightened up. “You won’t regret this! Sailing is awesome, I want you to feel what I feel when I sail! ” He jumped onto the deck and started preparing some stuff before I could jump with him. After preparing everything, he turned around and extended his hand for me to grab it. I looked at his hand, it was full of small almost invisible scars, wounds and callouses, he probably got them for playing volleyball or working. Before I could even move an inch, an angry voice yelled his name. “KOTAROU!”
Bokuto flinched and put his hand back when he heard his name. “Oh no, he’s coming for me…” He pouted as he put everything back to place. ‘Who is he talking about?’ I was soon to find out.
An angry old man who lacked hair and had thick eyebrows stomped his way to where I was standing. “Get off Benji right now!” Okay it seemed to be a serious situation but the fact that he had called the boat by its name made me hold a little laugh. “What, why!? I was about to-” Bokuto got interrupted by who seemed to be his grandpa. “Absolutely not! You’re not going to one of your stupid adventures again! The family needs the boat and we can’t risk it getting broken or something worse!” He was definitely his grandpa.
“It’s just a small trip, you know I’m responsible enough!” The old man shook his head sternly and pointed to the ground. “Get out of there or you’re getting nothing for dinner!” Bokuto sighed heavily and jumped off the sailboat, the boat giggled a little bit because of the force and the old man yelled again. “Be more careful! See why I told you not to take the boat!” Ever since the exchange started he hadn’t noticed me but when he did, his eyes widened and he frowned even deeper. “You even wanted to take tourists!?” He grabbed Bokuto’s ear and dragged him away while the young man whined. “Ow! ow! that hurts gramps!”
“Shut up! You’re gonna work in the store today as your punishment! How many times have I told you to not use Benji for your personal trips!” There was more bickering but it was almost unintelligible since they were walking away. I didn’t know how to feel after witnessing such a scene, I did feel a bit of pity for Bokuto, after all, he just wanted to show me around. Still, I understood his grandpa, what if the boat got broken? It seemed to be an old boat after all.
Whatever it was now, it was not my problem. I just had to find the way back home since I hadn’t really learned the town’s streets yet. I started walking around town, passing through places I had previously walked around with Bokuto, yet I didn’t know how to get home. So I ended up spending 20 minutes of my time walking around like a lost baby chick, and of course I finally gave up and sat on a staircase near the beach. I sighed, I was feeling bad already, I just wanted to go home, maybe go back to the city, I couldn’t even feel good here. Was it all useless? I came here to spend time with my grandparents in order to feel better yet I hadn’t spent a single moment with them. I already think I’m a lost case, I don’t want to get my grandparents involved or even Bokuto, damn I’m such a piece of shit. I really should kill myse-
I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned around to see a familiar face, Akaashi. He waved at me and sat down beside me. “Are you lost?” I looked down and nodded, I felt so ashamed for what I had been thinking, I just hope he doesn’t notice. “I read Bokuto’s text when I got up. He told me that he would be showing you around town.” He calmly explained. “He also told me that he would show you his sailboat. I assumed that you were gonna be on a small trip with him.” He turned to finally look at me. “Did you reject his offer?” I simply shook my head and kept looking ahead. “No, his grandpa appeared and scolded him, he dragged him out by his ear.”
Akaashi snorted and shook his head. “Yeah, he can’t use that boat on his own…” There was a small silence before he started talking again. “Anyway, I can help you get home if that’s what you want.” I nodded several times and we both got up and started heading to my grandparent’s house.
Akaashi didn’t really talk as we headed to my house, only on one occasion to tell me this. “I apologise if you feel uncomfortable around Bokuto-san, he can be…” He gestured with his hands. “a little too much sometimes.” I chuckled to myself. “Yeah he is, but he doesn’t seem like a bad guy.” Akaashi nodded. “He’s not, trust me.” He looked at me and smiled gently, his whole demeanor had changed. Akaashi really appreciated this friend of his.
We finally reached my grandparent’s house, we stopped right in front of the door. “(y/n), if you need any help with anything around town just tell me, we can exchange LINE contacts if you want.” I nodded and got my phone out so Akaashi could put his contact into my phone, he then nodded and gave it back to me. “Please don’t hesitate when asking for help” I slightly bowed. “Thank you so much! And thank you so much for today too!” Akaashi smiled again. “It’s nothing, really” He then waved and walked away.
I sighed, turned, opened the door and entered home, no one seemed to be here. Thank god, if my grandpa caught me talking with a guy my age he would-
“(y/nnnnn)!” Shit I talked too fast.
I saw my grandpa appear from the kitchen with a smile, a smile that seemed too kind for him! “ Who’s your new friend?” He giggled like a highschool girl. I was not in the mood for this right now but I figured that I had to talk with him first in order to get back to my bed. Fuck my life.